Chenille yarn and method of making same

ABSTRACT

A core filament such as a polyester monofilament is passed longitudinally through an adhesive bath and is thereafter passed through an electrostatically charged mass of flocking fibers, such as nylon. The flocked filament is thereafter passed through a fixing chamber and is then flattened between a pair of heated rollers. Subsequently the flattened and flocked yarn is passed between a pair of polygonal-section rollers which serve to orient the fibers parallel to each other and pointing in two groups in opposite directions away from the core filament.

United States Patent Lenards et al.

[75] Inventors: Gerhard Lenards; Walter Bahren,

both of Rheydt, Germany [73] Assignee: Kuhn Vierhaus & Cie. AG., Rheydt,

Germany [22] Filed: Jan. 18, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 434,573

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Jan. 27, 1973 Germany 1. 2304049[52] US. Cl ..428/372; 117/9; 117/17; 118/308; 427/32; 428/400 [51] Int.Cl D02g 3/42; B44c 1/08 [58] Field of Search 117/17, 33, 9; 161/176,161/180 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 644,724 3/1900Richter ll7/33 2,047,525 7/1936 Thode 117/17 2,115,079 4/1938 Lilley etal. 117/33 2,696,445 12/1954 Schwartz et a1. 117/9 3,018,845 1/1962Powers 117/33 3,081,485 3/1963 Steigerwald.... 117/17 June 10, 19753,336,174 8/1967 Dyer et al. 161/180 3,375,124 3/1968 Linneborn 117/173,583,890 6/1971 Kolchmann 161/176 3,775,228 11/1973 Leary 161/176FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 881,382 11/1961 United Kingdom 161/1761,111,449 10/1955 France 117/33 20,505 9/1969 Japan .1 117/33 PrimaryExaminer-George F. Lesmes Assistant Examiner-J. Cannon Attorney, Agent,or Firm-Karl F. Ross; Herbert Dubno [57] ABSTRACT A core filament suchas a polyester monofilament is passed longitudinally through an adhesivebath and is thereafter passed through an electrostatically charged massof flocking fibers, such as nylon. The flocked filament is thereafterpassed through a fixing chamber and is then flattened between a pair ofheated rollers. Subsequently the flattened and flocked yarn is passedbetween a pair of polygonal-section rollers which serve to orient thefibers parallel to each other and pointing in two groups in oppositedirections away from the core filament.

4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures CHENILLE YARN AND METHOD OF MAKING SAMEFIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a chenille yarn.In addition, this invention concerns a method of making such a yarn.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The oldest known method of making a chenilleyarn comprises several steps: First, a thick blanket is formed byweaving together a fine and very strong woolen or worsted yarn servingas a warp and heavy cotton weft threads. This blanket is then cut intostrips between the warp threads, each strip constituting a section ofchenille yarn which is then joined longitudinally to another suchsection to form the desired chenille yarn. This type of chenille yarn isused commonly in the manufac ture of rugs and carpets and constitutes anextremely durable, albeit expensive, product. The several steps in theproduction are time consuming and require a great deal of supervision inorder to insure a high-quality product.

In contrast to this woven type of chenille yarn there is also known aspun type of yarn. For this type of yarn a woven worsted is generallyblended with other fibers and is then textured to give the desiredchenille characteristics. Such a spun-type chenille yarn is relativelyeasy to produce, and therefore can be made relatively inexpensively.However, such a yarn has by no means the advantageous characteristics ofthe more expensive type of chenille yarn. The texturing frequentlyweakens the spun-type chenille yarn so that it is a chenille inappearance only, having none of the long-wearing characteristics of thewoven type.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the presentinvention to provide an improved chenille yarn.

Another object is to provide an improved method of making such a yarn.

A further object is to provide a chenille yarn which can be producedrelatively inexpensively and which nonetheless has the long-wearingcharacteristics of the more expensive type of chenille yarn.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION These objects are attained according to thepresent invention in a chenille yarn formed by coating a core filamentwith an adhesive and then passing this coated filament through a mass ofelectrostatically charged flocking fibers so that they adhere thereto.This mass is formed between a pair of electrically charged platesdefining a space to which are fed the flocking fibers. On exiting fromthe flocking station the filament carrying the fibers is passed througha fixing chamber wherein it is heated so as to affix these fiberspermanently to the core filament. Thereafter according to the presentinvention the yarn is flattened and otherwise treated to give it thedesired chenille appearance and shape.

It has been surprisingly found that when an adhesivecoated filament ispassed through such an electrostatically charged mass of fibers thefibers attach themselves to the filament by their ends so as to projectgenerally radially outward from the core filament. This is evidently dueto the fact that the fibers orient themselves perpendicular to theplates creating the electrostatic field at the flocking station becausethe filament is at a lower potential than the charged plates. Thechenille yarn so produced therefore has a rugged core from which extendthe many fibers so that an extremely durable yarn is produced while theconsiderable disadvantages of the woven-type chenille yarn are avoided.

In accordance with another feature of the present invention the corefilament is a polyester or polyamide monofilament and the blockingfibers are a polyamide, such as nylon, while the adhesive is a polyamidesolvent cement such as discussed on page 6 of WHITTING- TONS DICTIONARYOF PLASTICS (TECHNOMIC: 1968). Such a composite yarn has proven itselfto be extremely rugged and to hold its laterally projecting flocksfibers for a very long time.

In accordance with another feature of the present invention after fixingof the fibers to the core filaments the yarn is passed between at leasttwo flattening'rollers. Thereafter according to the present invention itis passed between a pair of polygonal-section orienting rollers whichbrush up the fibers parallel to one another in two groups pointing inopposite directions away from the core filament. Brushes may also beused at this point.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The above and other objects, features, andadvantages of the present invention will become more readily apparentfrom the following description reference being made to the accompanyingdrawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic side view of the apparatus according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view in enlarged scale of a short section of chenilleyarn according to the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a cross section taken along line III-III of FIG. 2.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION As shown in FIG. 1 the core filament 2 is drawnfrom a supply 1 in the direction shown by the arrow A and passes througha bath 3. A liquid adhesive 4 is held in a vessel 5 constituting thisbath 3 and the filament 2 passes under areversing roller 6 below thesurface of this liquid 4. Thence the filament 2, now carrying anadhesive coating 26, is pulled up and out of the bath 3 by a pair ofrollers 7a and 7b, the latter being partially submerged in the liquid 4so as to insure a thin and even coating 26 of the adhesive 4 on thefilament 2.

The coated filament 2 thereafter passes longitudinally through aflocking station 8 comprising an open ended chamber 17 in which areprovided a pair of spaced apart charged plates 9 and 10 connected to asource 28 of high-voltage electric power. These plates 9 and 10 areequispaced from and parallel to the filament as it passes through thechamber 17. A pair of idler rollers 12 and 13 in the chamber 1'7 supporta dielectric transport band 14 displaced in the direction of arrow A bya driven roller 11. A hopper 15 filled with a supply 16 of nylonflocking fibers 27 adjacent to this roller 11 serves to depositcontinuously these fibers 27 onto the upstream portion of this band 14so that they are introduced between the plates 9 and 10 on stretch 14'of the band 14 and form a charged mass 29 of these fibers 27 betweenthese two plates 9 and 10. As the core filament 2 is pulledlongitudinally through this mass 29 the fibers 27 attach themselves toit endwise. This filament 2 rotates about its own axis because it ispulled off a spool as shown at 1. On exiting from the chamber 17 the nowflocked filament 2 passes through a relatively long heated chamber 18 inwhich the adhesive 4 is dried so as to fix permanently the fibers 27 tothe filament 2.

Downstream of the heat treatment chamber 18 there are provided a pair ofrollers 19 and 20 between the nip of which the filament 2 is pulled. Adrive motor is connected to both of these rollers 19 and 20 and servesto drive them and thereby advance the filament 2 in the direction ofarrow A.

Further downstream from the rollers 19 and 20 are three pinch rollers 21all driven by a motor 31 and serving to flatten the chenille yarnproduced by the upstream devices. A pair of spaced-apart square-sectionrollers 22 further downstream from the rollers 21 are driven veryrapidly by a motor 32 in the direction A and serve to orient the fibers27 parallel to each other as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 and pointing almostperpendicularly to the filament 2. Thence the finished chenille yarnpasses over a guide roller 23 and is wound onto a spool 24 driven by adrive roller 25 rotated by a motor 33.

The core filament 2 is a polyester monofilament. The adhesive 4 is apolyamide solvent, and the fibers 27 are of a polyamide, such as nylon.The rollers 21 for such a composite structure are heated to atemperature of approximately 150 to 180C, here to a temperature of 165C.

The chenille yarn so formed can be made very inexpensively and veryrapidly. Although only a single supply l and a single filament 2 is hereshown it is entirely within the scope of the present invention toprovide a plurality of such supplies 1 so that a plurality of yarns canbe made simultaneously.

We claim:

1. A chenille yarn comprising:

a core filament;

a layer of adhesive surrounding said filament; and

a multiplicity of flocking fibers projecting from said filament and eachhaving one end imbedded in said layer, said fibers being orientedgenerally parallel to one another and transverse to said filament fromabout the point of exit from said adhesive layer.

2. A method of making a chenille yarn comprising the steps of:

coating a core filament with an adhesive layer;

electrostatically charging a mass of flocking fibers;

passing the coated filament through said mass whereby said fibers adhereto and flock said coated filament, said filaments each having one endembedded in said adhesive layer;

flattening and fixing the coated and flocked filament;

and

orienting said fibers generally parallel to one another and transverseto said filament from about the point of exit of said fibers from saidadhesive layer.

3. The method defined in claim 2 wherein said fibers are continuouslyfed to a region between a pair charged electrodes to form a cloud, saidfilament being continuously passed through said cloud.

4. The method defined in claim 3, further comprising the step of heatingthe coated and flocked filament to harden said adhesive.

1. A CHENILLE YARN COMPRISING: A CORE FILAMENT, A LAYER OF ADHESIVESURROUNDING SAID FILAMENT, AND A MULTIPLICITY OF FLOCKING FIBERSPROJECTING FROM SAID FILAMENT AND EACH HAVING ONE END IMBEDDED IN SAIDLAYER, SAID FIBERS BEING ORIENTED GENERALLY PARALLEL TO ONE ANOTHER ANDTRANSVERSE TO SAID FILAMENT FROM ABOUT THE POINT OF EXIT FROM SAIDADHESIVE LAYER A. A METHOD OF MAKING A CHENILLE YARN COMPRISING THESTEPS OF: COATING A CORE FILAMENT WITH AN ADHESIVE LAYER,ELECTROSTATICALLY CHARGING A MASS OF FLOCKING FIBERS, PASSING THE COATEDFILAMENT THROUGH SAID MASS WHEREBY SAID FIBERS ADHERE TO AND FLOCK SAIDCOATED FILAMENT, SAID FILAMENT EACH HAVING ONE END EMBEDDED IN SAIDADHESIVE LAYER, FLATTENING AND FIXING THE COATED AND FLOCKED FILAMENT,AND ORIENTING SAID FIBERS GENERALLY PARALLEL TO ONE ANOTHER ANDTRANSVERSE TO SAID FILAMENT FROM ABOUT THE POINT OF EXIST OF SAID FIBERSFROM SAID ADHESIVE LAYER.
 3. The method defined in claim 2 wherein saidfibers are continuously fed to a region between a pair chargedelectrodes to form a cloud, said filament being continuously passedthrough said cloud.
 4. The method defined in claim 3, further comprisingthe step of heating the coated and flocked filament to harden saidadhesive.